MANSFIELD­ - The 25th Rehab Telethon raised $110,351 by the time the event went off the air at 9 p.m., a record amount, according to one Rehab Center official Sheila York.

She said the total last year was around $104,000. The event was at the Richland Mall on Saturday.

That total may change because pledges come in even after the telethon goes off the air. An official amount will be released later, organizers said.

The Rehab Center, now a division of Catalyst Co., has been in existence since the mid-1950s. The agency, originally focused on vocational rehabilitation, also provides services for behavioral health for children adolescents and drug and alcohol treatment services.

President and CEO Veronica Groff said the telethon has become a tradition, bringing many people together. "It's like a party in the community and a great welling up of support," she said.

Using money raised from the telethon, "we are able to do a great many things throughout the year," she said.

That has included handling more needs for people with hearing problems, following cuts in state funding for those programs after 2008. One example was the help Rehab Center gave two women in obtaining hearing aids so they could go back to work, she said.

Telethon donations help fill gaps in drug and alcohol treatment services and other Rehab Center programs, she said.

Tom Brennan, who retired last year as editor of the Mansfield News Journal, was honored at the opening of the telethon at noon with a Rehab Center Lifetime Community Service Award.

Brennan headed up News Journal sponsorship for community events including Brighten A Christmas, the Soap Box Derby and the News Journal All-Star Basketball Classic (with proceeds going to the Rehab Center). He was among the community leaders who led the effort to keep the 179th Air National Guard unit stationed in Mansfield.

The award "means a lot to me," Brennan said. He said he got involved in the telethon as part of the newspaper's role in holding peoples' feet to the fire to accomplish the best outcomes for the community. He believed the News Journal needed "to be part of the solution, as well as identifying the issues," he said.

Sheila York and Jeff Urban — who helped organize early telethons and continue to play active roles in the event — received awards for their efforts over the years, near the end of the nine-hour telethon.

The Rehab Telethon first aired in February 1992, after nearly a year of planning and preparation, said York, marketing and development administrator for Catalyst Life Service and the Rehab Telethon.

“From the $44,000 that was raised the first year until this year’s record breaking amount, we can’t say enough about the generosity of the north central Ohio area," she said.

Telethon co-chairmen Jeff Urban and John Brown worked to obtain early commitments and sponsorship opportunities to set the pace for fundraising, she said.

Event coordinator Melissa Drozda introduced tweets and social media feeds to the fundraiser, widening the reach of the event, York added.

It takes more than 300 people to conduct the telethon, including behind the scenes volunteers and those on the phone banks, community guests, on-air hosts, production workers, officials said.

Ten individuals or groups — from Miss Ohio to the Fun Center Chordsmen — participated this year as on-air entertainers.

Fourteen others, including Gorman Nature Center, The Magic Company, All About the Paw Pet Rescue, Ohio Bird Sanctuary and Springfield Township Fire Department fire safety crew, provided entertainment at various times during the day, giving visitors more to do while they were near the telethon.